III SS Panzer Corps

The III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps was a German Waffen-SS armored corps that was active from April 1943 to 4 May 1945. The corps was formed as a headquarters for the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking and the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, and the corps was led by Felix Steiner as it participated in operations against Yugoslavian partisans in the Balkans. It was composed primarily of foreign volunteer formations, hence its designation "Germanic". The corps was sent to join Army Group North during Operation Bagration and was forced back through Estonia by the 1944 Soviet winter offensive, being withdrawn to Courland. The corps was later transferred to the Oder Front as a part of the 11th SS Panzer Army, and it took part in Operation Solstice before being assigned as the reserve corps to the 3rd Panzer Army.